4 ms·

There have been a few Black women founders who have gone through YC at this point. We just started asking for gender in the W15 application, and we've never as

by katm 12y ago

There have been a few Black women founders who have gone through YC at this point. We just started asking for gender in the W15 application, and we've never asked for race, so we have very imperfect data on how many Black founders apply to YC. From a random sample of the last batch's applications we determined that less than 1% of the applications came from Black founders. We need to do a better job communicating the fact that YC has funded all types of founders and companies -- and we want to fund more people from a wide range of backgrounds. We will miss out on many promising companies if we don't make that clear. We've funded a number of single founders and even single non-technical founders. We've seen that running a startup is harder for solo founders and teams without a technical founder -- but it's not impossible. If you're willing to work hard and are resourceful, we would love for you to apply. This fall, a couple of our partners will be speaking at historically black colleges, and in our most recent RFS (http://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/#diversity http://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/#diversity) we included a call for non-profits and startups that are working on making tech a more inclusive place for all people. If you have ideas on ways we could better reach Black women founders, feel free to reach me -- kat at ycombinator.

soneca 12y ago
May I ask who is/are the single non-tech founder(s)? Thanks.
mlichtenstern 12y ago
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I've listened to hours of YC-related videos on YouTube and it is not clear that this is the case. It is good to hear, and I am happy to spread the word as I know many women and entrepreneurs of color feel discouraged because they are not "from central casting" or don't "pattern match." I've watched trends change and believe disrupted patterns, like the glitch in the movie, "Wreck it Ralph," are full of potential. The strategy of speaking at Historically Black Colleges (HSBUs) is encouraging. I'm happy to reach out with other ideas and have blogged about suggestions: http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-diversity-in-tech.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-di... http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mirrors-reflections-on.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mi... In the latter, I reference attending events for: MESA http://mesa.ucop.edu/ http://mesa.ucop.edu/ NSBE http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx & Grace Hopper http://gracehopper.org/ http://gracehopper.org/ May I suggest that in pioneering in diversity, the term "race" be retired as there is only one human race. Most thought leaders in ethnic & cultural studies concur. The terms "ethnic" and "culture" are more accurate and less divisive. I happen to be mixed. When situations call for classification of sorts, I prefer "multi-ethnic," "multi-cultural," "Black" "Black-American" or "of African descent" (my daughter - whose father is African, is "African-American"). Terms like "bi-racial" and "mulatto" make me cringe. I know "race" is commonly used, so my suggestion is not to place blame, but to work towards a better framework for discussing diversity and reducing racial rhetoric. You will, indeed, find me among the pool of applicants. Thank you, again, for addressing the question, and positing solutions. I am also interested to hear more about solo founders. Hard things don't intimidate me at all.

by katm 12y ago

soneca 12y ago

May I ask who is/are the single non-tech founder(s)? Thanks.

mlichtenstern 12y ago

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I've listened to hours of YC-related videos on YouTube and it is not clear that this is the case. It is good to hear, and I am happy to spread the word as I know many women and entrepreneurs of color feel discouraged because they are not "from central casting" or don't "pattern match." I've watched trends change and believe disrupted patterns, like the glitch in the movie, "Wreck it Ralph," are full of potential. The strategy of speaking at Historically Black Colleges (HSBUs) is encouraging. I'm happy to reach out with other ideas and have blogged about suggestions: http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-diversity-in-tech.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/07/debugging-di... http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mirrors-reflections-on.html http://timesnewromanempire.blogspot.com/2014/08/smoke-and-mi... In the latter, I reference attending events for: MESA http://mesa.ucop.edu/ http://mesa.ucop.edu/ NSBE http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx http://www.nsbe.org/home.aspx & Grace Hopper http://gracehopper.org/ http://gracehopper.org/ May I suggest that in pioneering in diversity, the term "race" be retired as there is only one human race. Most thought leaders in ethnic & cultural studies concur. The terms "ethnic" and "culture" are more accurate and less divisive. I happen to be mixed. When situations call for classification of sorts, I prefer "multi-ethnic," "multi-cultural," "Black" "Black-American" or "of African descent" (my daughter - whose father is African, is "African-American"). Terms like "bi-racial" and "mulatto" make me cringe. I know "race" is commonly used, so my suggestion is not to place blame, but to work towards a better framework for discussing diversity and reducing racial rhetoric. You will, indeed, find me among the pool of applicants. Thank you, again, for addressing the question, and positing solutions. I am also interested to hear more about solo founders. Hard things don't intimidate me at all.